Stoke Mandeville Stadium celebrates 60 years of Wheelchair Sport with the opening of its new Tennis Courts

John Curry CBE, Chairman of the All England Ground Plc., helped celebrate 60 years of wheelchair sport by opening two new tennis courts at Stoke Mandeville Stadium.

Stoke Mandeville Stadium has provided wheelchair athletes facilities and support for their sporting aspirations since it was built in 1969. The brainchild of Sir Ludwig Guttmann, a neurologist who was working with World War II veterans with spinal injuries at Stoke Mandeville Hospital in Aylesbury, saw sport as a vital part of the rehabilitation programmes of his patients. The movement has grown massively from its start in 1948 and now encompasses the development of thousands of athletes worldwide. Stoke Mandeville Stadium is proud to be at the forefront of this movement and the new tennis courts continue to enhance the range of facilities available.

Over 100 guests attended the celebration and were treated to demonstrations in Wheelchair Rugby and Basketball by London Storm and Aylesbury Aces respectively. On the tennis courts there were demonstration matches showing all levels of ability, from community matches at grass routes through to elite players from the British Deaf Tennis Association. This culminated into the first 'official' match between former Wimbledon Wheelchair Tennis Champion, Jayant Mistry and Dawn Newberry, Team Manager of GB Paralympic Tennis Team who is off to Beijing in the coming weeks. WheelPower's Chief Executive, Martin McElhatton hit the first official ball on the new courts.

Martin said 'WheelPower is delighted to have fantastic new facility with these two floodlit tennis courts which will be available for both disability and community programmes in the future.

With the addition of the new courts, WheelPower is really excited about the opportunity to work closely with the Tennis Foundation to deliver opportunities to young and newly disabled people and introduce them to tennis.

I would like to express our sincere thanks to The All England Lawn Tennis Club, The Tennis Foundation and Aylesbury Vale District Council Community Chest for the tremendous support received to enable the courts to be added to the facilities here at Stoke Mandeville.

Guests were also able to view memorabilia from past games and to chat with former Paralympic champions.

Mark Botha, Sales Director for Leisure Connection Ltd. the management company working on behalf of WheelPower, also said 'Leisure Connection is proud to be part of Stoke Mandeville Stadium and the new tennis courts will provide many more sporting opportunities not only for elite athletes but also for the local community.'

The event was a huge success, for further information about Stoke Mandeville Stadium, please call on 01296 484848, or visit our website at www.stokemandevillestadium.co.uk.

If you would still like to contribute to WheelPower's Wheel Appeal which aims to raise enough money to provide 2012 sports wheelchairs for young disabled athletes by the time the Paralympics return 'home' in August 2012, please visit www.justgiving.com/bwsf.

For more information contact WheelPower on 01296 395995 or info@wheelpower.org.uk